New Computer Boots Very Slowly..

[JD]

I posted a message in this newsgroup regarding XP Ram Limit and I got
very good information and I have built my super computer but it boots
like a pooper computer.

My current XP home edition SP3 computer is a AMD Athlon MP 1700+ 1.46
GHz with 2GB of ram. It takes 37 seconds from hitting the start button
on the computer to get to the desktop.

The new pooper computer with XP home edition SP3 is a AMD Athlon 64 X2
Dual Core Processor 6000+ 3.01 GHz with 3.25GB of ram (4GB total). It
takes 3 minutes and 28 seconds from hitting the start button on the
computer to get to the desktop.

Does this seem normal? What is the pooper computer doing in the
additional almost 3 minutes?

Both copies of XP are legitimate, purchased at Best Buy before Vista
came out. I like to have two computers.

 

[JS]

Try Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

You can use this tool to compare what the differences are between
your "pooper computer" and the AMD Athlon MP 1700+

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot
(Boot Execute tab),
when you logon (Logon tab) and other programs that load (grouped by labeled
tabs) for easy viewing.
Compare to see if there are any differences between both PC's 'Logon' and
'Boot Execute' tabs.

It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop (use with
care) any program that you don't want to load.
You can undo any changes you have made.

Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you can't
readily identify you may need to highlight the item (right click) and use
the 'Search Online' option to get the details,
especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

JS
www.pagestart.com

 

[JD]

I think I found one of the problems but I'm not sure how to fix it?

In my Event Viewer, System, There are many cd related errors, it says:

Error: "CdRom0 has a bad block"

Warning: "An error was detected on CdRom0 during a paging opertation"

Error: "The Device, \Device\Ide\IdePort2, did not respond within the
timeout period."

The computer was restarted once this morning and those errors were not
there after that restart but it still booted slowly.

There are two DVDr SATA drives on this computer.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I think I found one of the problems but I'm not sure how to fix it?

In my Event Viewer, System, There are many cd related errors, it says:

Error: "CdRom0 has a bad block"

Warning: "An error was detected on CdRom0 during a paging opertation"

Error: "The Device, \Device\Ide\IdePort2, did not respond within the
timeout period."

The computer was restarted once this morning and those errors were not
there after that restart but it still booted slowly.

There are two DVDr SATA drives on this computer.

Disconnect the CD drive and see what happens.. if it is an old unit, replace
it..

Also check for a CD in the drive, and if there is, take it out..

Go into BIOS and demote the CD drive in the boot list..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[JD]

Disconnect the CD drive and see what happens.. if it is an old unit,
replace it..

Also check for a CD in the drive, and if there is, take it out..

Go into BIOS and demote the CD drive in the boot list..

It's a DVDr drive and it's brand new. There was no CD in the drive when
I got the error. The drive works.

I went into the bio to change this drive in the boot list and I noticed
under Advanced, Advanced PCI/Pnp Settings, Plug and Play OS is set to NO.

The bios notes say:

NO: Lets the bios configure all the devices in the system.

YES: Lets the OS configure Plug and Play (PnP) devices not required for
boot if your system has a Plug and Play OS.

And a WARNING! Setting wrong values in below sections may cause system
to malfunction.

This should be set to YES, right? XP is Pnp. Wonder why it's set to NO?
Is it set to NO since I have the DVDr drive first in the boot sequence?
I did not change the boot sequence since I would like to be able to boot
from the DVDr drive.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

It's a DVDr drive and it's brand new. There was no CD in the drive when I
got the error. The drive works.

I went into the bio to change this drive in the boot list and I noticed
under Advanced, Advanced PCI/Pnp Settings, Plug and Play OS is set to NO.

The bios notes say:

NO: Lets the bios configure all the devices in the system.

YES: Lets the OS configure Plug and Play (PnP) devices not required for
boot if your system has a Plug and Play OS.

And a WARNING! Setting wrong values in below sections may cause system to
malfunction.

This should be set to YES, right? XP is Pnp. Wonder why it's set to NO? Is
it set to NO since I have the DVDr drive first in the boot sequence? I did
not change the boot sequence since I would like to be able to boot from
the DVDr drive.

You can set that to YES..

On some splash screens (when the computer starts), there is reference to an
F key which, when pressed, will give you the option of selecting the boot
device. If you need to boot from the CD/DVD drive, this is the best way to
access it. At all other times, the boot order should be arranged such that
the CD drive is below the hard drive..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[JD]

Comparing the two computers, logon and boot execute tabs don't show any
major differences.

The pooper computer is SATA drives and I see the motherboard CD has a
driver called RAID/AHCI Controller Driver but I didn't install that
because I'm not using the two drives on a RAID.

When I start the computer, I get a black screen that just shows the
information number regarding my PCIe video card but I've installed all
the drives for that.

Then it goes to the motherboard information where I can hit Delete to
get into the bios.

Then it loads XP but it's very slow to do that. I've been restarting the
pooper computer quite a bit today installing new software and when I use
the windows key to get to the standby, shutdown or restart screen, when
I use the r on my keyboard to restart the destop flashes like it's going
to a second desktop. The other computer just shuts down.

 

[JD]

You can set that to YES..

On some splash screens (when the computer starts), there is reference to
an F key which, when pressed, will give you the option of selecting the
boot device. If you need to boot from the CD/DVD drive, this is the best
way to access it. At all other times, the boot order should be arranged
such that the CD drive is below the hard drive..

Changing the boot order didn't change anything regarding the bootup time.

 

[JS]

How about when you do a cold start of pooper, is it still slow?

JS

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Changing the boot order didn't change anything regarding the bootup time.

Have you tried disconnecting it and then booting the computer?


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[JD]

Taking a little break from the pooper so I have not booted it today.

Would it be OK if I started a new thread since the replies are getting
hard to keep up with?

 

[JD]

Have you tried disconnecting it and then booting the computer?

Taking a little break from the pooper so I have not booted it today.

You're asking me to disconnect the DVDr drive? I don't think that is the
problem since XP, the BIOS and my newly installed CD writing software
(Nero 7 Essentials) see both DVDr drives as working and with the correct
specs.

Would it be OK if I started a new thread since the replies are getting
hard to keep up with?

 

[JD]

First cold start of the day and nothing has changed. It actually took a
little longer since I've added mouse and keyboard drivers, etc that load
with XP.

I haven't installed any real software so I'm going to do that and see
how fast the new machine is, compared to the old one.

Maybe it's just a slow booter?

 

[JS]

Can you check to see if your SATA drive is not running in PIO mode (Slow
speed)?

JS

First cold start of the day and nothing has changed. It actually took a
little longer since I've added mouse and keyboard drivers, etc that load
with XP.

I haven't installed any real software so I'm going to do that and see how
fast the new machine is, compared to the old one.

Maybe it's just a slow booter?

 

[JD]

How would I do that?

To add to the mix, I tired duplicating a DVD of family pictures using
fast copy in my Nero 7 software and that failed. I tried using the other
copy method where it writes to the HD first and that was so slow I
canceled it out.

The older XP computer only has one DVDr but it was able to copy the
family DVD with no problem and was ten times faster than the new XP
computer.

I'm thinking I've got a hardware problem, specifically the motherboard?

Both XP and the BIOS see all the components but the components are not
working with each other.

I'm using two SATA drives but I did not install the RAID/AHCI Controller
Driver since the two drives are not being used in a RAID. Should I
install that driver?

 

[JS]

Try using a utility named "HD Tune"
http://www.hdtune.com/
There is a Free version and the Pro version offers a 30 trial.
Both have a "Info" tab, which will show what DMA or PIO mode
your drive is in.

As for if you need to install the RAID drivers, check the motherboard
manual.

JS

 

[Gerard Espinas]

I posted a message in this newsgroup regarding XP Ram Limit and I got
very good information and I have built my super computer but it boots
like a pooper computer.

My current XP home edition SP3 computer is a AMD Athlon MP 1700+ 1.46
GHz with 2GB of ram. It takes 37 seconds from hitting the start button
on the computer to get to the desktop.

The new pooper computer with XP home edition SP3 is a AMD Athlon 64 X2
Dual Core Processor 6000+ 3.01 GHz with 3.25GB of ram (4GB total). It
takes 3 minutes and 28 seconds from hitting the start button on the
computer to get to the desktop.

Does this seem normal? What is the pooper computer doing in the
additional almost 3 minutes?

Both copies of XP are legitimate, purchased at Best Buy before Vista
came out. I like to have two computers.

There are different ways to speed up your computer. Try this steps:
1. Remove programs that starting up during the boot up stage using
HijackThis -> http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/_download/HiJackThis.exe
2. Fix your registry using RegClean ->
http://www.download.com/3001-2094_4-881470.html?spi=e0b51299192f59479dd2e80f02055849&idl=n
3. Speed Up Your Registry using RAM Booster -> http://www.sci.fi/~borg/rambooster/download.htm

 

[JD]

See my replies inline:

There are different ways to speed up your computer. Try this steps:
1. Remove programs that starting up during the boot up stage using
HijackThis -> http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/_download/HiJackThis.exe

New install, there are no programs running at startup except for a few
programs that I want to run at startup.

2. Fix your registry using RegClean ->
http://www.download.com/3001-2094_4-881470.html?spi=e0b51299192f59479dd2e80f02055849&idl=n

New install. I don't use registry cleaners and I doubt a new install is
going to have many items in the registry that need to be cleaned up.

3. Speed Up Your Registry using RAM Booster -> http://www.sci.fi/~borg/rambooster/download.htm

4 GB of ram, no need to boost?

It appears to be the sata controller on the motherboard. I'll know in a
few days since I'm a little frustrated having screwed with this beast
for the last week and I'm taking some time off from the beast and then
I'll install a new mobo.

 

[JD]

I took a look at that program and I'm not sure I'd be able to figure it
all out so I took the new XP to my local repair guy and we've decided
it's the sata controller on the motherboard.

I'll know in a few days once I take a little time off to lower my
frustration level and then install the new mobo.

 

[JD]

I was the motherboard. Replaced it and everything is good!